Trials of the Corsair
by SpartAl412
Summary: Continuing the tale of Outcasts and Rogues, a ranger seeks to join a war band of corsairs but must first complete a series of trials before being accepted into the group.
1. Trial of Shadows

His eyes were closed behind the red lenses of his helmet. He quietly counted to ten trying to focus and block out the sounds battle, of explosions and gunfire, the screams of pain, the shouts of rage, the laughter and praises to those dark things from the beyond. His back was flattened against a concrete wall, daubed with dark sigils, to his right was an open door way to his targets, in his hands he held a rifle of elegant design, signature to his race. He was in the hall of what he believed was an apartment complex, across him barely a over an arm's length away was a stair way going down to the first floor and another set of stairs going up. His eyes opened and was focused, with a deep inhale of breath he burst into motion, he swiveled to the door way and began to fire his rifle in full-auto.

Screams of pain followed as four figures in red armor were struck down by the barrage, taken by surprise with many of them still clutching the triggers of their guns and showering the room in a barrage of lead, one of the red armored soldiers was able to turn back in time to meet the new threat, and his effort was rewarded with only a glimpse of their assailant before being struck down by a hail of mono-molecular blades. Before the soldier slumped down into the embrace of death, the assailant quickly moved on to the next room, releasing his breath, quickly going through the motions of reloading; he still had two more rooms to clear.

In less than five seconds he was at the second room, he could hear the soldiers inside talking, he assumed they must have heard the sounds of his rifle and the silence of their comrades in the previous rooms, without thinking and relying only upon instincts honed from many battles leapt out of cover and began firing, two of the red soldiers went down, shot in the back down as they operated their heavy guns of which were propped by the windows and raining death at those outside, another soldier leapt to his right but was struck by several of the assailant's shots to the left side of his torso. The last one was able to fire back and scored a trio of shot into the assailant's torso before being cut down by the volley of blades.

The assailant was knocked back his breath blown out of his lungs, his reinforced breast plate had absorbed the solid slugs, and each hitting an area which would have been lethal had he not been wearing armor even then he felt as if he had been punched three times by a greenskin. Through sheer effort of will he recovered as quickly as he could, he staggered into the room and slumped onto the corner to his left, he noticed that one of the soldiers was still alive and shakily raised his arms to fire, he pulled the trigger and ended the life of the wounded foe.

He began breathing heavily; he tried to get the air back into his lungs, he heard the sounds of foot steps amongst the staccato of fire from the last room, he believed that two of the red soldiers might be coming to check, his cloak began changing its color to blend into the room. Just in time as well, another red armored soldier thrust his rifle forward and scanning the room, the soldier began calling to his dead comrades in an angry tone, the red soldier gave a loud gasp and then quickly began surveying the room, pointing his rifle around.

The red soldiers were equipped in scratched and grimy armor that seemed crude and bulky to the assailant, covering only the upper part of the torso, the pauldrons of which their kind seemed so fond of, the knees, elbows, the rest of their bodies were covered in light brown uniforms that were stained with dried blood and finally masks of synthetic fabrics with similar colors, with red eye lenses and a nozzle around where the mouth should be which connected to a canister. Most distinguishing of all though were the sigils of the eight pointed stars and on their right pauldrons were the painted symbols of a horned daemon wreathed in fire.

Gently raising his rifle, the assailant with teeth gritted behind his helmet was able to place the stock of his gun by his hip, he took a deep breath trying to focus, and he squeezed the trigger. The red soldier was struck into the right side of his body, the mono-molecular blades cut into his waist and many of his vitals were shredded by the hail of fire. The red soldier collapsed into a heap, the assailant rose back up on his feet in time to hear shouting from the outside, his right hand reached for his side arm, and had it raised up beside his face, closing his eyes again he tried to use his keen senses to listen for the position of the other soldier.

He heard the foot steps of the soldier carefully trying to get to the room of his comrades; the soldier's rifle was raised close to the man's gas masked face, when he passed the room where his comrade had just been slain, the soldier looked to his left and saw the corpse, he didn't have time to shout a warning before the hand gun fired and reducing the gas masked head into pieces.

The assailant stood there for a moment after the second soldier died leaning a heavily to the wall, he knew the last two soldiers would be expecting him or at least some sort of trouble. He heard angry shouting from a small black rectangular device upon the body of the soldier he had just killed, likely an officer was demanding why the silence of the heavy guns by the windows. Weighing his options, the assailant went for a pair of grenades he spotted upon the belt of one of the previous soldiers he had shot, the wounded one he had executed mere seconds ago. Although the idea of using such primitive weapons disgusted him, he knew well enough that they would be sufficient for the job.

Poking his head into the hall way, the cracked concrete floor shuddered with the rest of the structure and dust fell from the ceiling from an explosive detonating near the structure, after making sure things were clear he crept to the next room, he saw that one of the red soldiers was firing a heavy gun at his targets outside, the other was speaking into one of their crude communicator devices shouting orders and gazing at the door way with a hand gun raised in the direction. With a quick twist of the pins, he held the grenades in both hands for a moment before tossing them, the red soldier who had been talking on the communicator barely had time to register the devices before they exploded and killing both he and the man behind him.

Already on the move to the first room, the assailant stumbled, barely after the second room before the force of the explosions tripped his stride, thrusting his limbs forward as quickly as he could; the palms of his hands hit the concrete floor stopping him from landing face first. Quickly getting himself up, the assailant knew he had to get out, he ran to the end of the hall to the stair way going up, he heard heavy foot steps on the floor below him. He intentionally began making as much sounds as he could with his foot steps, he heard the heavy steps below him begin to quicken and heard the distinct roar of a chain-blade.

Reaching into his bandolier, he pulled out a disc shaped device and latched it to the wall, he only needed a moment to prime the device before leaving, and he grinned in anticipation of what it would do. Heading up after two more floors each with three apartment rooms all emptied of life, some by errant explosives or the lucky shots of snipers, or by the assailant himself, at the fourth floor he heard an explosion underneath him that shook the structure and wished he could have seen who had triggered it. He made his way up to the roof; the door way was left open after his previous entry. Emerging into smog filled sky of this world; the sounds of battle around him grew loud like a thunder storm.

He spent a moment to take in the scene around him, structures of human craftsmanship stood in various states of ruin, he heard the roar of gunfire, and the screams, the chants and laughter of those who fought, and he felt the tingling and sickening sensation of sorcery in the air. He saw mobs of brutish greenskinned vermin charging in waves against organized ranks of red armored warriors, some wore the light armor of those he had just killed, some were clad in robes and makeshift armor, and most deadly of all were the few massive ones that were clad in heavy suits of ancient machined armor.

Ellarian watched as a massive wave of orks crashed into the ranks of the red armored humans. Without the support of the heavy guns from the apartment complex, the pressure on the green skins was vastly reduced. Noticing a single massive helmetless human in red armor with the trapping of a leader, the chaos officer was easily identifiable by the banner upon his back, the officer wielded and auto cannon and firing a punishing volley into the horde, shouldering his Shuriken Rifle, Ellarian picked up his Long Rifle of which he left upon the roof top, propped by the entrance to the stairway.

Taking aim, he sighted upon the Havoc wielding the auto-cannon, he first surveyed the area the marine was around and saw a pair of massive red warriors beside the officer each busy firing bolter rifles at the orks. Lining up his shot, Ellarian held his breath to steady his aim; squeezing the trigger he saw in an instant the laser shoot out from the barrel and lancing directly through the unprotected head of the warrior who jerked to the side with the sudden appearance of a clean hole through the skull before slumping down, dropping his cannon which continued to spit more rounds. With practiced agility and dexterity he reloaded his rifle while keeping his head down, looking back to the door way to the roof top to see if there was anyone coming, he wondered if he should stay and keep on shooting until he heard a faint series of heavy footsteps from below, deciding that perhaps now would be a good time to disengage.

Leaving his position, he ran towards the direction opposite to where he was, both rifles were now strapped to his back. Picking up enough momentum, he put a foot over the ledge and leapt with all of his strength, flying over an alley with nothing but air and a lethal drop to a filthy street beneath, he felt a mixture of terror and exhilaration at his current situation. Time seemed to slow down, he saw everything in perfect clarity, quickly shifting his position with right shoulder raised, he soon crashed through a glass window, and thankfully his entire body was covered with the thick fabric of his cloak as well as his armor underneath which prevented the shards from cutting into his flesh.

Rolling onto the concrete floor with grunt and feeling a pain shoot across his arm; Ellarian more or less remained in good condition. Quickly getting back to his feet while trying to shake away the mild sense of vertigo, he surveyed the area, finding himself in a small square shaped room with several filthy cots attached to the walls and a door way held ajar. He knew from experience that such seemingly abandoned rooms could still have unseen dangers such as trip wires, mines, crumbling masonry, or unholy runes of Chaos.

Carefully making his way to the door with his pistol raised, Ellarian knew that time was of the essence now, the orks were being held back by the heavy weapons of the chaos forces, and without it the Orks would have a much easier time closing in, a dangerous prospect regardless of whoever it was which fought the savage bruts. Placing his back to the wall by the door way, Ellarian poked his head through the empty space to see what was around, he found himself in an apartment complex similar to the previous building. Closing his eyes and letting his keen senses take control, he grew confident that the structure was abandoned, slowly creeping out of the room; he made his way into the hall and ascended the stairs.

Ellarian made his way to the roof top just as he had with the previous building, when he emerged into the open, he heard the distant sounds of shouting were much closer now, rushing to the east edge of the building, he looked down to a major road way seeing several of the red chaos troops were now falling back from the green horde, the massive warriors were the ones leading the withdrawal, followed by the smaller red soldiers all in a surprisingly disciplined manner. At the back were the ones clad in robes and make-shift armor these ones were fighting the orks in a furious melee, likely these ones were either those in a fanatical fury, high on combat drugs which could induce psychotic frenzies along with improved physical attributes. It was something the Ranger had seen many times in his past experience as a Guardian.

Moving away from the edge, in time to avoid a series of stray ork bullets from striking the concrete railing he had just been behind, surveying the roof top, he knew where the chaos forces were heading and needed the fastest route to their destination. Reaching for his belt, Ellarian removed a canteen, taking a drink of the tepid water; Ellarian readied himself for another jump to the nearest building.

* * *

Having been on this world for sixty cycles, Ellarian had done his best to sow discord amongst the Chaos and Ork forces battling for control of this world. Ambushing patrols from afar, laying traps in the form of mines or crude devices which still proved lethal, assassinating officers and leaders with his sniper rifle, and even thrice infiltrating installations and sabotaging machinery. Ellarian was glad that his travels across the Great Wheel had given him a wealth of many skills learned from fellow Rangers or the Exodites. What made this particular venture different was that Ellarian was performing all of these alone, normally he would have done such tasks amidst a group of fellow Rangers, but he was needed to attempt such things with no allies and no back up. Certainly it was terrifying to the ranger, yet at the same time was thrilling.

He had come to this world at the bidding of a Corsair Prince named Eorlianeth Angsar of the Crescent Wings. His first encounter with this particular corsair band had been on a world covered in azure vegetation after rescuing a human female named Merelen Cyierk, a so called Rogue Trader. While he honestly knew little of these Rogue Traders, knowing that they were human merchants who sometimes peacefully dealt with the Eldar, he had learnt later to his surprise that a number of these Rogue Traders actually had legal means to trade with non-humans. This was something which truly surprised Ellarian as he had often thought that the human Imperium made a strict policy of killing _Xenos_, or humans who didn't seem 'human' enough to them.

After meeting the Corsairs and exchanging introductions Ellarian had agreed to an invitation to the corsairs' ship, of course going aboard a ship full of pirates would normally be a terrible idea but the Corsair Prince seemed quite charming and non-menacing and Ellarian was hopeful at the possibility of a reward as well. After entering a web way gate and boarding a modified Wave Serpent furnished for luxury with many cushions on the floor and a cabinet full of wine, he had sat amongst the corsairs in silence he had tried to raise questions but was simply informed to wait, during the trip the Corsair Prince chatted with the Rogue Trader while the other corsairs casually chatted amongst each other while drinking or smoking and the seer simply sat crossed legged by a corner likely with closed eyes underneath his helm and meditating, the Prince and the Trader talked for a long time in the Imperial language in tones which seemed serious, when they arrived at their destination Ellarian was amazed beyond belief.

When he had been told about the corsairs having a ship, Ellarian had at first expected something like a Solaris or Aurora, or maybe even something larger like a Wraith ship or a Dragon ship, instead when stepped down the ramp of the Wave Serpent, he found himself starring at the barrels of dozens of support platforms armed with all sorts of lethal armaments. Each platform had been neatly arranged in rows to create overlapping fields of fire, a number of which were placed upon wraith bone terraces to be able to fire over those below, all of which were housed in what seemed to be a massive hangar as he could see the forms of a wide variety of grav-tanks, walkers, and even the unmistakable form of Titans. As he took in the sheer size, his eyes widened in realization at where he was, there was only one kind of ship amongst the Eldar that could bear such a wide open area inside it, only one kind of ship could have the space to carry the unmistakable appearance of Titans, and as he continued his survey he even saw the forms of entire star ships, he was aboard a Craftworld.

Ellarian was glad that he had his helmet on as it concealed his gawking, remembering that he was in the presence of company; he shook away his amazement hoping the Corsairs did not notice. among the corsairs only the Corsair Prince, the Rogue Trader, and five bodyguards descended from the Wave Serpent he noticed an open topped skimmer gliding towards the group, at a closer look the Ranger was reminded of the Ravagers used by the Dark Kin, but this particular one did not bear the harsh or cruel bladed designs used by the Commorites, rather it was one built by Craftworld hands and designed for luxury, safety and quite especially for show.

As the Ravager-like machine landed with its sides protected by thin sheets of Wraithbone, the Wave Serpent ascended and flew off. The party boarded the new vehicle which took to the air and flew off into same direction as the Wave Serpent with the guards taking place at the sides and one at the front, the Prince took a seat upon a throne, behind this throne Ellarian noticed was another Eldar in armor of gold with a midnight black helm and red eye lenses who operated the vehicle, while Ellarian and the Rogue Trader simply stood on the deck in front of the throne.

Again Ellarian would find himself staring at the sights of this new Craft World. In his travels he had mostly gone to the worlds of Exodites, learning their ways and living like one of the rustic folk, only a few times had he visited the Haven Spires used by fellow outcasts and had once even traveled to the webway realm of Khai-dazaar, at the thought of that place Ellarian's mind travelled to fond memories of a maiden he knew from there. He watched as they had pass by forests, fields, apartment complexes, works of artistry and beauty, they passed palaces, foundries and all sorts of things one would expect to find aboard a Craftworld.

To his surprise Ellarian saw thousands of figures below and began to wonder exactly how a group of corsairs could actually come to rule an entire Craftworld, his surprise grew even greater as they passed a public glass domed transportation shuttle, at the front were several robed figures wearing faceless ivory masks but at the back he saw the unmistakable heads of Kroot sitting comfortably.

He began questioning the corsair guard at the front, who simply told him that it is the Prince's desire to answer such, Ellarian then looked to the Corsair Prince but only to find him still engaged in a serious conversation with the human. The Ranger resigned himself to waiting and hoping that his curiosity would be satisfied later. As the skimmer passed over another district, Ellarian could see down on the streets the forms of various creatures most of which he had only read about or seen in recordings mingling with Eldar, he saw many forms of alien creatures some known to him such as kroot, sslyth, demiurges, he was surprised to see tau and the more so with humans. He also saw many creatures he did not recognized of various shapes and sizes.

Along the way Ellarian had also noticed many statues, insignias, banners and various other icons depicting a hammer or an anvil or other symbols often associated with the smith god Vaul. He assumed the Eldar of this Craftworld must have a culture favoring the paths of the smith or of the bone singer or perhaps one dedicated to scientific pursuits. Eventually the skimmer would settle down in the hangar of a palace the likes of which the aristocracy of the old empire once used.

As the skimmer landed beside the Wave Serpent that had brought them to the Craftworld the party disembarked and were met by several armed corsairs among them was the seer Mitherion of Ulthwe all of whom raised their weapons in salute to the Prince. Gesturing for Ellarian and Merelen to follow him the two followed suit, the ranger began to grow rather nervous as he walked through the wide opulent halls decorated with all manners of artwork, for one thing he was in the presence of multiple armed strangers, many of carried close combat weapons with Ellarian being in range of and there was the fact that he absolutely had no idea what was going on now and began to unconsciously move hands closer to his side arm.

He felt a hand gently wrap over one of his shoulder, looking back he saw the armored form of a female corsair, gently shaking her head she sent him a feeling of reassurance that somewhat calmed the ranger. After about a minute more of walking the Corsair Prince ordered for his 'guests' to be escorted to accommodations, the female corsair gestured for Ellarian to follow her and so he did, sparing a last look at the human he had rescued only less than a cycle before.

Ellarian was brought to an opulent suite, the room was richly decorated and well designed in the organic shapes of used by his kin with a wide open space, a large bed with lavender colored silk sheets, across it a three legged table with two chairs, a divan of exquisite design was in front of a holo-projecter, on one corner there was a shrine of Vaul depicting an anvil and around the room were shelves filled with tomes.

Removing his helmet and pulling his hood down, he smiled and gave thanks to the corsair who removed her own to reveal a fair skinned maiden with an outlandishly garish palette of hair that one would expect to find on the costumes of a Harlequin with the hair itself tied into many dreadlocks. The corsair woman gave a feral grin to Ellarian that reminded him of the look a Saim-Hann Avenger he had once fought alongside would have when gunning down squadrons of mon-keigh guardsmen.

When the maiden left, Ellarian placed his survival kit and his long rifle on the side entrance to the room while still keeping his side arm in its holster and his blades in their sheaths he began inspecting the room for anything such as hidden cameras, listening devices or even the more esoteric sorts of things such as runes or sigils a seer could use. After a thorough search he felt that there was nothing to be used to monitor him, but still it nagged at him that there must be something being used, he soon heard a chiming sound from the door and a feminine voice asking to be allowed in.

Unsure of what do, Ellarian whipped out his shuriken pistol and hid it behind him, using his left hand he operated the console beside the door, pressing on a rune he willed for the device to open the door. Briefly touching into the infinity circuit of this Craft World, he felt a profound sense of sadness and regret from it, when the door opened, came a pair of robed figures in featureless ivory masks, the two masked figures bowed low in unison to Ellarian

"Lord Angsar has commanded us to attend to your needs honored guest" said the two in perfect unison with voices that seemed exactly the same; it was rather disturbing to Ellarian. "We are tasked with bathing and feeding you in preparation for the master's call for your audience"

A little embarrassed, Ellarian had never travelled the path of service in the past and felt that having two strangers bathe him would be rather awkward although of course a meal might and drink would be nice.

"A meal would just be fine" he said "err by chance where is the privy? I really need to go"

Once more in perfect unison the two robed figures pointed to the corner of the room beside the large and now messy bed where a doorway opened. Nodding and giving thanks to the servants he closed the door when they turned to leave and went to go 'freshen up'.

After doing his business and cleaning himself, he moved to a large basin built into the floor and deep enough for him to lie down in, by the basin was a beautiful statue of a maiden holding a large pitcher over her shoulders. Activating a console built into the maiden's right hip a little too close to the buttocks; steaming water began pouring into basin from the pitcher. Removing his cloak, his armor and his garments with only his soul stone amulet on his person, the Ranger could not remember the last time he had bathed like this; surveying the room he found labeled flasks containing bathing oils. After the basin was filled with water, Ellarian dipped his toe and hissed at the heat, after a moment he took deep breath and placed his right foot in eventually, laying down into the deep with his back touching the bottom he closed eyes releasing a sigh of pleasure enjoying the heat.

* * *

As darkness descended across the planet, Ellarian could see the world in a clear red hue. He had switched his helmet lenses to dark mode and watched as the battle progressed. Settling down in the remains of a watch tower atop a fortress like structure, he watched as the orks were now mindlessly battering against the chaos defenses. The corrupted humans were now cornered into what seemed to be a park considering the number of blackened trees, he could see the outlines of structures in the chaos base and was sure that from there gateways to the Void of Eternal Darkness supplied reinforcements. Countless more dumb brutes hurled themselves at the turrets, bunkers and various fortified positions of the chaos humans, and they were getting closer. For hours on end Ellarian witnessed as wave upon wave of continued their assault, he had played his part as well, sniping at the banner wielding officers who made it easy for the ranger to pick them out and many had made it easier still with the lack of helmets.

Of course Ellarian had to make his shots carefully as more than a few times would the chaos heavy weapons focus on the position he had fired from with deadly accuracy, even moving from one position to another had its threats as he had often run into many greenskins. Fortunately he had mostly encountered the small ones often armed with crude sniper rifles, these ones were not expecting to encounter the Ranger, and those who did were easily dispatched with his pistol.

Eventually when weariness began to take its toll upon him, Ellarian had disengaged from the horde's path. Using the sewers which still had its dangers in the forms of greenskins or chaos mutants, the ranger quietly made it to a building that once may have had some great importance to the human Imperium. The structure was once a well fortified bastion with thick walls which were blown open in many spot, he found many ruined barricades and defaced insignias of the Imperium, worst of all were the many rotted bodies of human males and females, many were certainly adults he had found more than a few bodies of the young, all in various states of desecration too terrible to describe. A number of the bodies wore the dark armor he had seen before on the azure world, he guessed that perhaps by the many cages and barred cells they kept in the bastion they were some sort of law enforcers.

The bastion though had a number of chaos fanatics when he arrived, the robed savages were busy barricading the main doors and did not notice Ellarian's presence. Coming through a sewer grate which had been previously breached, ranger walked out through a basement floor and made his way up, and the first human had been busy slicing sigils unto his fore arm and whispering prayers. It was too late for him when the ranger had prepared his dagger and threw it, the blade sunk into the human's chest, the second he killed was searching through what seemed to be an armory and making what Ellarian supposed was angry cursing as there were many empty containers or guns which seemed broken. The scavenger had met his end when the ranger's thrown knife hit the man's throat.

Eventually when he found the main group in a large square shaped room, he had counted over six more humans, each one were armed with a variety of blades and cudgels all were busy attempting to barricade the opening of thick metal gate which looked as if a Melta weapon had vaporized a hole through it, one large enough for a Chaos Marine to enter. Taking cover behind a thick concrete railing overlooking the floor below while bringing out his shuriken rifle, Ellarian sighted down the scope and began firing, unlike the apartment rooms which he had cleared out earlier; there was a greater deal of distance between his position and the humans. He was able to cut down three of them before the other ran for cover, two of the humans opened fire with slug throwers, each one fired with appalling accuracy, the third human a grey skinned male with a multitude of eyes began whispering something and cutting into his own flesh.

Ellarian began to get a sickening feeling as a change in the air came. The mutant stood up from his cover, embers of blue fire appeared in his hands which soon transformed into raging infernos, the mutant cackled as he began hurling balls of fire at Ellarian. Cursing loudly, the ranger quickly ran away from cover with only his natural eldar speed saving him, the area he was just in was turned into a conflagration of witch-fire. Reaching for his bandolier, the ranger pulled out and primed a plasma grenade the last one he had; with a whispered prayer to Khaine he threw the grenade at the mutant's position. The sorcerer saw the grenade flying towards him and began firing smaller bolts of blue flame in rapid succession, the sorcerer was able to get a lucky shot before the grenade came too close to him and exploding far enough from the cultists to avoid any plasma burns.

Unfortunately for him the sorcerer made the mistake of taking his eyes away from the Eldar, before he knew it the sorcerer was struck by a hail of shuriken rounds, wearing only robes and scraps of armor the sorcerer was torn to shreds, his companions soon tried to flee but without any cover, they soon found multiple shuriken rounds in their backs. Breathing heavily Ellarian took a moment to rest before securing what he could, as he searched the place he eventually found a watchtower which rather too conveniently offered both a place of rest and a good view of the raging battle.

Reaching into one of his pouches while watching intently on the battle in the distance, he took out a few pieces of round biscuits and began eating, knowing that he would be in for a long night

* * *

Taking the time to think about recent event, Ellarian noted how odd it was that just the previous cycle he was living on a wooden platform built upon a tree and now he is taking a hot bath in a palace within an entirely different Craftworld. There was something odd about the servants and the way they acted, something seemed wrong and off putting, he felt like he should know but couldn't quite place his finger on it. Soon his suspicions were replaced by a sense of calmness and serenity likely from the aroma of the oils from the flasks; his eyes began fluttering and began to feel like he could do with a nap. When his eyes lazily began to open he thought that he caught sight of someone before closing his eyes again. He soon felt a gentle pressure from gauntleted hands upon his shoulder which began to feel nice, with a sudden flash of alarm his eyes opened widely and looked back to see a featureless ivory mask.

"Sweet Isha!" he shouted and splashing water as he turned around, quickly he tried to find something to cover his dignity but only having his hands to do the job. Glaring at the servant who knelt there behind the ranger the servant was no longer wearing robes but covered in light Wraithbone armor shaped in a clear feminine form, Ellarian began to angrily glare at the servant, "haven't you heard of knocking!?"

Still as a statue, the servant gently nodded "of course this one has honored guest, but this one's current purpose is to ensure a pleasurable stay to our honored guest"

Hearing these words, Ellarian got up no longer bothering to cover himself, swift as a viper he grabbed the servants arm; pressing his fingers tightly into the wrist trying to get a feel of it, both physically and emotionally. All he felt was the psychic presence of Wraithbone, realization began to dawn upon the ranger, this was no creature of flesh and blood, nor was it a construct powered by a soul. It was a pure machine, an automaton like the ones the Eldar of the old empire used to perform labor for them, he had certainly read about such things and even had seen some of the ancient recordings of these constructs but never did her think that any still existed, and much less still functioned.

Staring at the ranger, the servant said in a gentle tone "Has this one done something to displease honored guest?"

Shaking his head the ranger replied "no you have done nothing to displease me, I am just surprised that machines such as yourself still exist". Releasing his grip from the machine servant, he went back into the bath still a little worked up.

Continuing to stare at Ellarian like a statue, he began to feel uncomfortable. The machine soon replied

"Do the Creators of other Craftworlds still use machines such as this one?" it asked

Shaking his head again Ellarian replied "no, as far I now, the other Craftworlds no longer use such machines ever since the beginning of the Paths system"

"This one understands why, for it was the labors of this one's kind that promoted the Creators into leading the way for the great cataclysm"

Shuddering at this, Ellarian knew the machine meant for the Fall. Like all Craftworld born he had learned at a young age what lead to the fall, and learned that the greatest enemy to the Eldar was not the daemons, the orks, or the mon-keigh, it was the Eldar themselves. Had they changed their ways, had they turned around and prevented the birth of She who Thirsts, perhaps now the Eldar would still be the dominant force in the galaxy, a force that would have had the strength to vanquish the threat of the Necrons, Chaos and the Tyranids.

Looking to the machine Ellarian spoke solemnly "It was not fault of the servants for making the way to the Fall, it was the fault of the masters"

The machine bowed to Ellarian, he wondered if these machines were capable of emotions and supposed it was possible considering the nature of Wraithbone. With a warm voice it spoke "this one thanks honored guest for such words. Would honored guest now partake in prepared meal?"

Nodding towards the machine Ellarian simply said "that would be nice, yes". After being dried inside a tube which blew hot air onto his body, the ranger was then clad in a fine royal purple robe with gems studded into it, his long golden hair had been plaited and weaved with iron cords, like the ancient heroes of Eldanesh's time. Vials of aromatic fluids were gently sprayed onto his flesh and garments. Ellarian soon felt as if he were back on Valseris, and began to feel that if there was one thing he truly missed about living on a Craftworld, it was treatment like this.

After being bathed he enjoyed a fine dish of vegetables, grain and steak he recognized the taste of the meat from the large reptilian herding beast humans seemed fond of and a heady bottle of wine of exodite origin. The servant machine had cleared the plates while another went about re-arranging the mess he had made of the room in search of surveillance devices. After his meal and some rest, he later heard the chiming sound from the console by the door; going to the machine he pressed his index finger into the button for communication, he heard the voice of another servant machine informing him of that the Corsair Prince wished for his presence shortly.

Looking to his kit, Ellarian wondered if he should go dressed as he is now or wear his ranger's gear. Feeling that this current outfit might make him look like some sort of sybaritic fop, he decided to wear his Cameleoline cloak and armor, better to look like a hunter he decided. Removing his robes and putting on a body suit, he soon put on his armor as well and finally his cloak. Hooking his helmet to part of his belt by the left hip, he placed the strap of his long rifle on his right shoulder, and making sure to attach his remaining grenades to his bandolier, his hunting knife was sheathed underneath the bandolier, concealed under the sleeve of his glove was a dagger and on his right the filled holster of his pistol, Ellarian looked every part of the wandering outcast.

He expected to be escorted by the corsairs again, but was instead accompanied by another of the robed machine servants who led the way. He passed by more richly decorated rooms, robed machine servants and many eldar all either wearing armor or rich clothing, but all he noticed had the hard looks of fellow outcasts and corsairs and none with the soft or ordered stances common among those who lived aboard the Craftworlds, eventually he was brought to a long hallway filled with various devices of alien designs.

Placed on pedestals or in cases or neatly arranged shelves were the weapons, armor, and various pieces of equipment from other species. On one side he found the barbaric metal jaw casings, claws, guns, blades and even skulls of ork origin with holo-plaques describing where, when and how the original owner was felled. On another side he found large jars full of preservative fluids with dead Tyranids floating inside as well as various pieces of tyranid equipment such as dismembered claws, blades, guns and more skulls.

He even found a set of glass displays etched with protective runes. These cases made him feel a bit sick to be near, as he could feel a strong presence of warp energy on the other side, inside the display were various pieces of weaponry and even the severed metallic heads of Necrons. Unnerved at the sight of the Necrons he moved on ahead following the machine servant, to another side he found several displays of armor and weaponry all bearing the cruel designs of the Dark Kin he was reminded of the Wych he had once become enamored by and wanted to avoid these trophies.

But the largest of all though were the displays of skulls, weapons and gears of Mon-Keigh origin. Here he saw a shelf of peaked hats belonging to the Imperial officers who had a tendency to shoot their own troops, another side he found banners of all sorts of crude human design. He looked at a series of closed faced helmets he did not recognize the pattern of but the display explaining it to be from the female warrior fanatics of the so called Sisters of Battle.

Amidst the human display he was even amazed to find a larger section entirely dedicated to the dreaded Space Marines, here he saw the helmets of various colors, he saw a blue power fist with the bottom being blackened and according to the plaque severed by a fusion weapon, the back of the fist had a symbol below where the knuckles should be with the symbol of a skull with a large U around it. He saw several more large skulls and other claimed pieces of war gear. He also found a series of weapons which seemed to call out to the ranger, amidst a set of swords, axes and staves were a pair of massive pole-arms that seemed to react to Ellarian's presence like all the others, he realized the weapons must be some sort of human-crafted Witchblades.

At one section of the hall were many empty displays only showing video or still image recordings of battles against the minions of the Dark Gods. Not having time to watch or read them all, Ellarian followed the machine servant to the end of the hall; the servant took place by the left end of a large double door while another servant held the other end. The machine servants bowed in perfect unison and spoke "The Lord Angsar awaits your presence".

Straightening his back he removed his rifle and carried the bottom of its stock upon his palm with the barrel resting by his right should, he raised his left leg and began to march forwards as if he were on parade grounds, heading through the doors which slid open in sideways.

* * *

Stretching his limbs, Ellarian was surprised that he had actually been able to find some sleep with the sounds of battle outside. Using his auspex, he zoomed in to see that the ork assault was now halted into yet another stalemate, likely the beasts were regrouping for another go, but he could see the chaos warriors were doing the same while shoring up their defenses. The red sun was rising as dawn came to this world; Ellarian hoped that finally today the siege would end.

Reaching into his pack, Ellarian pulled out a small grey pouch, opening the container he pulled out a series of thick blue leaves which he placed into his mouth and began to chew. The leaves had a bitter taste to them but after swallowing the plants he began to feel more alert and revitalized, he was glad that these were his last because they were somewhat addictive and hoped that he can force himself off of it. Leaving his kit and gathering up his guns, Ellarian checked the ammo cells of his long rifle and then the clips of his shuriken weapons, he was dangerously low now so he had make shots count, his long rifle was now only good for four more shots and was now out of grenades, he only had one remaining ammo clip for his shuriken rifle and two for his pistol. Not wanting to return to the corsairs in failure Ellarian resolved to press on but to try to be more careful.

He climbed down into the bastion to find the place was still empty save for the furry vermin from the sewers which were feasting on the dead humans he had killed earlier; he walked through the melted metal gate, carefully going over the barricades. Coming out into an open courtyard, he saw multiple ruined vehicles parked into a semi-circle across the main door, a large section was empty and he saw more rotted and desecrated human corpses.

Peeking out across a corner, Ellarian felt the heavy rumbling of ork war machines going into the direction of the Chaos base. Many were of the scavenged vehicles that had once been human tanks, some had the chassis of the so called Leman Russ Tanks, while others bore the chassis of the Marine Predator tanks, there were also a number of smaller vehicles, such as the buggies and bikes, he looked up at the sky and could see the forms of ork Fighter Bombers.

It seems the beasts were also intent on finishing this he thought. Ellarian could not help but feel a small sense of accomplishment, at first he had indiscriminately attacked both humans and orks, but after getting the lay of the land and learning a bit about the forces involved he decided to first focus on the chaos forces. A little push here, a death there and the brutes certainly had a way of finding the weak spots in the chaos defenses and then proceeding to hurl as many troops as they could at it. Waiting for the armored column to pass, Ellarian quietly made his way across the street towards the next city block hoping that he could find a good spot.

After hours of searching and trying to avoid green skin patrols, Ellarian finally found a good sniper position in the form of a large rectangular tower with walls of glass on its outer sides. Standing amidst the ruins of what seemed to be a workspace, he had found the room to be in ruins, it seemed that an explosive device had detonated in the room as he found the space to be blackened and with bits of human bones mixed with the rubble. Crouching over a pile of rubble, Ellarian noticed something underneath his right boot, shifting his right foot away he saw a rotted human hand tightly clenched around what seemed to be a piece of paper.

Relaxing his stance, he curled his right arm upwards with the long rifle facing up, and used his left hand to pick up the paper. Gently prying away the paper from the hand which fell apart, Ellarian saw the paper was a picture depicting a human male with a female and children, shaking his head the ranger folded the paper and placed it into the rubble by the remains of the hand.

The battle was now in full swing; ork armor engaged those of the chaos ones, shoddily built walkers known as Killa Kans and Deff-Dredds fought hand to hand against nightmarish Defilers and Chaos Dreadnoughts, tanks fired at one another and bikes rushed towards each other in a deadly charge. Ellarian felt a sickening disturbance in the warp as a human sorcerer completed a blasphemous rite and many daemons began materializing to assail the orks who in turn continued to attack with wave after wave of bodies.

Amidst the conflict Ellarian picked out the two leaders of the armies, the ork leader was a massive beast in powered armor, covered from jaw to toe in heavy armor; the Warboss was as big as a Space Marine dreadnought, held in his gauntleted hands a massive hammer of such seize that both hands were needed to be used, the ranger was glad that at the least part of the ork's head was exposed which would make Ellarian's job of putting down the stupid beast easier. The Warboss was accompanied by multiple nobs in power armor, all of whom wielded two handed hammers as well, the ork band crushed and pummeled their way past many of the chaos humans and even daemons that did little to slow the orks down.

Among the chaos forces, Ellarian saw the humans were parting way before their leader. A large band of chaos marines clad in heavy suits of terminator armor and wielding massive maces and hammers strode forth to meet the orks. The ranger was able to pick out which was the leader as he noticed only one of the humans bore a leather banner of sorts with a bloody eight pointed star daubed into it, he remembered hearing about the leaders of this particular group of red armored chaos marines being not only tacticians and skilled warriors but also religious leaders who would drive their comrades into fanatical furies.

Ellarian wondered how well the Dark Gods would protect their champions, readying his rifle he watched and waited for his chance to put it to the test

* * *

Marching through the double doors, Ellarian was greeted by yet another sight he did not expect. At first he thought he would enter some sort of grand throne room the likes of which kings and princes of ancient times would rule from, instead he found himself upon a bridge of wraithbone standing over a gentle stream which surrounded an isle filled with trees, above the isles was a glass dome with a clear view of the stars. Ahead of him was a pathway of wraithbone which extended forwards, he could see the distant form of a round dais with five people lounging upon it surrounded in a ring by eight great statues, continuing his march Ellarian followed the path towards the dais.

His eyes darted to the sides and he felt a sense of wonderment at this garden, at the corner of his eye he saw trees, flowers, bushes and other plants many seeming to be from different worlds yet all surviving together. The air was cool and pleasant like the temperate spring of a maiden world he had once been to called Atharan-Lorain after winter had passed; inhaling the scents of the garden he was amazed that not only the color and shapes of the plants go well together but also the smells of them.

At the center of the botanical garden was a large circular platform, its sheer size was enough for three Scorpion Tanks to fit in. Surrounding the dais were eight statues depicting the old gods, each exactly eight meters away from the dais and each in states Ellarian recognized from the old tales, one statue depicted Isha surrounded by eldar children with her face full of joy as she held a spirit stone in her hand. Another depicted Kurnous with a feral grin flanked by a two hounds and wielding a hunting spear, another statue depicted Khaine roaring in fury as he held up a sword while surrounded by ninety nine blades.

There were also statues of other gods such as Asuryan, Morai-Heg and Cegorach all while carrying various objects forged for them by Vaul who was placed behind the dais and was depicted whole and un-maimed while hammering upon his anvil the blade Anaris. Among the statues he noticed one which was unfamiliar to him depicting the goddess Lileath, the moon goddess cradled in her arms a beautiful bow of crescent shape while around her were three howling hounds which looked exactly like the ones of Kurnous, slightly puzzled he had never heard of a tale regarding Vaul giving Lileath a bow and wondered how the god of the hunt fit in to it.

Upon the dais were a large number of multi-colored cushions and lying upon some was the Corsair Prince himself holding a goblet in hand and beckoning to Ellarian with the other. Divested of his armor the older Eldar wore a rich silken robes of silver that left his bare chest exposed, the prince's red hair had been tied into a top knot with a silver diadem designed in the shape of thorny rose stems around his head. Around the prince were four creatures the ranger was surprised to find were human females, each wearing vulgar and revealing outfits and each he noticed had a gilded collar around their necks. He had also noticed the humans were of different skin tones, one being rather tall with dark brown of skin, another being much shorter with pale skin and small eyes, another with similar features but with a darker skin tone, the last being the more fair skinned variant he had often seen when facing the soldiers human Imperium, each of the four humans were black of hair.

Gently placing down the goblet on a tray held by the small pale one, the prince gestured for Ellarian to take a seat. Removing his boots, Ellarian sat cross legged upon a round cushion of yellow and blue with the insignia of Iyanden, the humans gave the ranger a goblet and served him wine which had a nice sweet flavor, as the two Eldar sat comfortably the prince was the first to speak.

"I hope you are enjoying you stay in Vaul-Anarath" said the corsair in a rich and welcoming tone "I do apologize for being unable to answer your questions earlier, but I had urgent business with the Trader Cyierk which required my full attention"

"That is quite all right" Ellarian replied in a polite tone "Indeed I have been enjoying my stay, this Craftworld is certainly full of surprises, especially with the many aliens aboard and machines I had thought our kind had stopped producing"

Eorlanieth gave an amused look to the ranger and said "In my experience using lesser species has its merits both in what they can do and what they can bring".

Taking a sip from a filled goblet, the Corsair Prince continued "I am sure you are expecting some sort of reward for aiding my associate and you are right to expect so". Placing the goblet by the tray, the prince sat up and clapped his hands twice; soon afterwards a grav-platform bearing a large case gently glided towards the dais.

Gesturing towards the grav-platform, Ellarian slowly rose up and stepped towards the machine, the Corsair prince himself and his slaves rose up and went for the same direction. At the base of the dais the grav-platform hovered, the large case it carried was sealed with a console on the top; the prince placed his hand on the console and willed for it to open. With a hiss of air the case slid open to the sides and inside it was a small armory, placed upon a smooth magenta padding there were a three rifles, two pairs of swords, eight grenades and three pairs of pistols. There was also an opening from the corner revealing a compartment filled with several small gems and pieces of jewelry of various designs and craftsmanship.

Eyes widening at the display before Ellarian kept his composure and looked to the Corsair prince who gave the ranger a magnanimous look

"Consider all of this yours" he said "and more if you desire, by joining my merry band"

Ellarian looked to the prince and thought about it, he had never had much interest in the idea of joining a Corsair crew and making a living by raiding and pillaging other species like one of the Dark Kin, he would rather have just explored the stars and universe. Still considering what the Corsair said employing aliens into his service, then perhaps this could truly be the Ranger's chance to be able to meet and learn from members of other species aside from just shooting them.

Giving grin to the prince, Ellarian nodded "consider me signed on then" he said with eagerness

The Corsair Prince gave a hearty chuckle "good, I had a feeling you would agree. But to join my crew you will need to complete something for me… a trial I would say, three trials you need to complete to test your mettle and then you are in"

"I see" said the ranger with a questioning look "and what sort of trials would these be?"

The prince picked up his goblet from the tray taking a sip; he looked to the ranger still with his generous look "The first would be a trial to test your abilities on a hostile world, alone"

At those words Ellarian felt a bit confident that he could complete such a task, for the last few passes he had survived in the wilds of many Exodite worlds and even aiding the rustic folk in fighting back against the barbaric greenskins, fanatical mon-keigh, the loathsome styrixis and other lesser creatures. Giving a confident nod towards the corsair prince, Eorlanieth continued

"then a trial to see how well you do in battle working with others and the last well… that one is a surprise. Are you still sure you wish to join us?"

Having already made up his mind, Ellarian agreed. The prince then grinned and picked up one of the rifles, marveling at its elegant design, he handed the weapon to the ranger; it was a shuriken rifle bearing the seal of the Avenger temple. Ellarian was quite curious about the weapon and asked if it was even all right for him to take a weapon from an Aspect Temple, the prince responded saying it was completely fine, and so by taking the rifle and the weapons their pact was sealed.

Ellarian then spent the next two cycles aboard the Craft World of Vaul-Anarath, the only other eldar he had seen were other outcasts or merchants from other Craftworlds, he grew curious about where are the native inhabitants but in the end received no satisfying answer. He did not see the rogue trader again in that time and had inquired about her well being but only receiving that the human was off on some sort of important business for the prince. In the end with his gear polished and cleaned, with a fresh clutch of grenades, mines, ammo clips and cells, he left the Craftworld through the webway with his old Long Rifle, the Avenger Shuriken rifle, his old pistol and both a hunting knife and a combat dagger. He had been informed that he would be going to a world that once belonged to the human Imperium, but its current state and who or what had taken over had been purposefully left out. Before he had left he had made prayers to the old gods hoping for good fortune, he knew that wherever it was he was going to he would need it.

* * *

Watching the titanic duel, the two massive champions clashed with hammer and mace. The Terminators and the Nobs bashed at each other relentlessly with both sides being not budging, around them the fighting continued but even in the frenzy of battle both sides respected the duel between the champions. Surveying the battlefield with his scope, Ellarian noticed that the orks had the advantage; several Storm Boys and Kommandos were already behind the chaos lines and obliterating structures with bombs, he saw a squad crazed berserkers of the blood god become engulfed in flames after one warrior slammed a chain axe into a squig strapped with explosives.

As the battle drew to its climax, Ellarian took aim focusing his rifle at the Chaos Lord; he knew the human would be a difficult to kill due to his heavy armor. He was glad that he waited for his shot because during the duel both leaders pummeled uselessly at each other as both carried energy shields, of course now the shields were depleted and had no time to recharge as the two leaders battled. Taking a deep breath, Ellarian steadied his aim he whispered a prayer to Khaine in his aspect of the unseen death and fired.

The beam of his rifle lanced out, traveling at an amazing speed the bolt struck the joint between the right arm vambrace of Chaos Lords' gauntlet and the rerebrace beneath the pauldron. The Chaos Lord had blocked the strike of the Warboss's hammer; the shafts of both weapons were struggling against each other. The bolt was unexpected and caused the Chaos Lord to lose the struggle, taking quick advantage the Warboss knocked back the Chaos Lord with a head butt, the Warboss soon brought his hammer into the Chaos Lord's helmet with all of his strength. Ellarian saw how the helmet was pulverized in the strike, stepping back for a moment the Warboss smashed again and again.

The death of the Chaos Lord dismayed the remaining chaos forces, the red soldiers and the red robed cultists began fleeing en masse from the green skins while the chaos marines held their ground and kept on fighting. He saw the Chaos Sorcerer attempt to cast a spell to escape but was struck down by a massive Storm Nob and his squad which quickly descended on the sorcerer.

All across the chaos base, anarchy and bloodshed came, corrupted humans fought or ran from the green skins, pockets and remnants of daemons continued to fight but were soon overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of orks. The Warboss roared his triumph to his boys while holding his hammer high in both hands, he did not see the laser bolt from Ellarian's Long Rifle before it was too late.

The boss stood there for a moment before slumping to the ground, his nobs began poking at their boss and tried talking to him, it quickly dawned on the dumb beasts that their boss was dead and a new boss was needed. The Nobs soon began arguing and fighting one another, and soon orks began picking sides and started fighting each other as much as the humans.

Underneath his helmet Ellarian grinned in satisfaction at the deed, shouldering his rifle he made his descent from the tower. His travel to the bastion's watch tower where he had left the rest of his belongings had been simple but a nerve-wracking one, with the orks so busy fighting each other he was likely to either run into an ork or two or get caught in a cross fire or even get hit by a stray shot. In the end he made it without incident.

At the top of the watch tower he prepared his belongings, wanting to make sure he left no trace of his presence behind. In the past he had been quite diligent with such, even keeping the used power cells or ammo clips of his guns, when everything was in order he pulled out from his pocket a small pyramid shaped device. Sending a psychic command to the device it began to float up into the air, taking a step back as it floated, the device created a shimmering disc of light. Pocketing the device Ellarian stepped into the webway, after a few seconds the gate slowly and gradually closed until there was nothing but dust and rubble in the lonely tower.


	2. Trial of Battle

The winds howled across plain, clouds of sand and dust became like snow in a blizzard, the oppressive of the heat of the red sun scorched the land as it had done for countless eons. The plain itself was but an endless sea of sand with the occasional outcropping and formations of stone, upon one such outcropping of stone was procession of serene activity. Sitting upon a series of small circular platforms which gently hovered over the ground without a sound were eight robed figures, each one wore the bright colors of blue and yellow, and each one wore a featureless mask of silver.

In silence they sat in a perfect circle of seven around one in the center who led the group, around them

were several slender figures in robes of yellow and blue each playing a haunting symphony of songs from various instruments which caused several floating stones to move to and fro, many connecting and forming into single constructs while others moved and shaped like clay in the hands of a sculptor. Among them were several dozens of still and silent statues, many were only a few feet taller than the slender creatures which played their music while some were more massive like giants of legend.

Amidst the buzz of activity, Farseer Thelanria sat with eyes closed behind her mask. Perceiving the twisting skeins of fate, her spirit sight was imbued by the power of her council and the runes they had wrought, piercing the shadows in the warp caused by their current foe, the hungering swarms of the Tyranids. With perfect clarity the Farseer and her council viewed the world in a way that perhaps only the gods themselves could, watching as their kin prepared for battle against the coming tide.

Sending a series of multiple telepathic messages to her troops, the Farseer soon felt the acquiescence of her kin as they moved into their places like the cast and crew of a stage. Around the seers, several of the statues suddenly came to life, arms raising heavy guns in perfect unison, the statues began moving their legs and marching in silence while the larger ones came to life as well, each one held a massive sword which began to glow with azure light. The legion of statues were soon accompanied by multiple platforms, each also gently hovering over the ground and each bearing deadly weapons of war.

As the wraith army of Craftworld Iyanden marched into place guided by the will of the seers, the mortal components, those still of flesh and blood made their preparations as well. Squads of Guardians and Aspect Warriors from the Banshee and the Spider temple boarded Falcon tanks while others entered webway gates, the support platforms which would often accompany the Guardians were attached to the squadrons of Wraithguard squadrons. The Falcons were soon joined by mighty Fireprism tanks, each carrying the crystal arrays of their namesake and calibrated to deal with the vast swarms of foes, forming into squadrons; the armor of the Eldar sped off into the distance while the army of Wraithguards, Wraithlords and support platforms made their silent march, led only by a handful of warlocks and Warlock commander who wielded a blazing sword.

Satisfied that everything was going as planned, the Farseer turned her attention to the vanguard of her army, her spirit sight brought her to the small bands of outcasts who watched and observed the movements of the enemy, some were busy laying traps as instructed, others left behind holographic emitters which would conceal the presence of their troops and some had left behind beacons from which temporary gates could remotely open and close. The Farseer then turned her attention to one trio of outcasts who had taken a good position within one of four watch towers inside a Mon'Keigh outpost which would offer an excellent sniping position; curiously two of the outcasts were armed with shuriken pistols and power swords rather than Long Rifles. Communicating a message to the one outcast in the group armed with a Long Rifle and facing to the west, the Farseer gave her command.

* * *

"As you order Farseer" came the mental acknowledgement of Ellarian

No longer feeling the Seer's attention upon him, the ranger looked behind him to his companions, each of whom giving the ranger a slight nod and continuing their vigil. The rangers were within a crude stone tower of human craftsmanship, likely it was part of an outpost meant to keep watch for Mon'keigh brigands, they had found it empty with many pieces of machinery specifically communications devices left abandoned with a message which played over and over, according to the other rangers was an order to head for a nearby military base and wait for help. Ever since coming to this world, Ellarian had not even a single live human and had doubts if any had survived.

It had been over thirty seven cycles since Ellarian had left the world ravaged by war between the servants of the ruinous powers and the barbaric greenskins. Although it was nice to be away from that ruined city he had fought in with the smells of decomposed corpses, old and fresh human or orkoid wastes and the choking smog so common on worlds heavily inhabited by humans, but at least there he didn't have to deal with the blistering heat.

The Corsair Prince Eorlanieth had been pleased with the results of Ellarian's work, exactly why he wanted the Ranger to cause dissent and confusion on that particular world eluded him as the prince simply said that it was his little secret, still if it involved killing chaos worshippers and savage greenskin then Ellarian would be satisfied as such wastes were bettered by death. After his return to the Craftworld of Vaul-Anarath he had been able to converse and get acquainted with more than a few corsairs and other fellow outcasts. Each seemed to hold the Prince in high regard or at the least respect, but Ellarian had to remind himself that in the case of pirates and brigands, those who greet you warmly with one hand may conceal a cold blade in the other, he would not be surprised if more than a few conspired against the Prince.

It was during this time he had met his current companions, Illyana and Illyios Arhanai of Craftworld Biel-Tan. Among the Eldar, a species which conceived and birthed children much more slowly than many others, these siblings are rarer still for having been born as twins, Ellarian had heard accounts of how such Eldar were capable of feeling each other's thoughts and emotions and some even going as far as some saying that such siblings are one soul in two bodies. In the short time he knew both Illyana and Illyios seemed to confirm all that he had heard as both looked, dressed and even talked alike with one often finishing the other's sentence, he could even swear that at the corner of his eye he could see an unusual glint in their spirit stones when they were near each other and it looked as if their stones even dulled a bit whenever they were apart. Eventually, when the Prince had finally called upon Ellarian to give him his newest task he had been informed that he would be assigned to the two, both of whom the Prince said had served him well for the last few passes. Aside from Ellarian's current company, it seemed that many of the other rangers were also in the employment or at the least are in some way affiliated with the Corsair Prince.

The Ranger's purpose upon this fortunately was clearer compared to the last. The Prince it seemed had once been quite close to a lady Autarch of one of Iyanden's noble houses, specifically one known as the House of Valor, the lady in question had unfortunately been slain in the great battle for Iyanden and now resided within the cold body of a Wraithlord. The Doom of Iyanden was a tragic tale even Ellarian had learned aboard Valseris, his Craftworld had been one amongst few to offer relief aid to the survivors of Iyanden, those Valserians who left would later return with heavy hearts filled with such sadness and grief that those amongst the Path of Grieving wept for ninety nine nocturnal cycles. Ellarian himself would use the memories of the vivid tales and holorecordings he had seen to fuel his hate against the Tyranids when donning his war mask, conjuring such memories now had given him a strange sense of clarity which steadied his aim, with a whispered oath to Khaine he vowed to help repay the Tyranids in kind.

It did not take long for the first sighting of Tyranids to come into Ellarian's view, first there was the great clouds of sands being kicked up by the claws of the chittering horde which were mixed with the green bioluminescence of spore mines which floated above the swarm, he saw them as he had always have, as a single ocean of chitin and flesh, hungering and seeking for biomass to consume. Through his scope, Ellarian could soon see the distinct coloring of the Tyranid swarm; fittingly the swarm had the color of bone and red, exactly the same as the one that assailed Iyanden in the past.

Ellarian soon felt the Seer's psychic gaze upon him

"_Do not fire yet, hold and wait till the tanks brings the swarm in range"_ commanded the Seer through telepathy.

As if on cue, Ellarian saw several yellow and blue colored forms of Fire Prisms and Falcons speed towards the swarm, the first vehicles to arrive were the Falcons, each one firing a volley of shurikens, scatter lasers and plasma from starcannons. Tyranids Gaunts and Rippers were cut down by the dozens from the volley of each tank, Spore Mines exploded by the dozens as well but none made any major sorts of chain reactions, the swarm responded in kind with a storm of flesh borers which either missed due to the Holo-fields or had uselessly struck against the Force Shields of the Falcons. Shortly after the Falcons first engaged the swarm then came the Fire Prisms which fired a deadly barrage of lavender colored lasers which vaporized many packs of Tyranids. And so the exchange of fire continued with the Grav-tanks receiving only minimal damage and each one reaping a bloody tally from the swarm.

Despite the impressive display of firepower, the swarm did not halt but was merely slowed by the barrage of fire. Inch by bloody inch the swarm closed in with the armor of Iyanden which slowly glided away with the front of the vehicles still facing the swarm.

"Ellarian" came the voice of Illyios, looking to his hooded companion whose face was concealed by his helmet with its red eye lenses looking to the north.

"Tyranids are coming that way" continued Illyana as her vigil to the south continued. Switching places with Illyios, Ellarian propped his Long Rifle by the window and used the scope to peer into the distance. He could see a large swarm of Tyranids heading there way, it was certainly smaller than the one which had engaged the Iyanden tanks, but quite certainly too large for the three outcasts to deal with, fortunately of course such actions would be unnecessary.

From the distance, Ellarian could make out the forms of Warrior beasts leading many more Gaunts and Rippers; he could also make out a large floating serpent with an oversized head he knew as called a Zoanthrope. Settling his sights upon the Zoanthrope, Ellarian suddenly felt the mental presence of the Farseer once more, this time though it felt as if the Seer's own hands gently guided his own, he felt his aim steady and knew he would not need to take a deep breath before making his next shot.

The Farseer mentally guided the Ranger's hands as if she were holding his.

"_Keep your sight upon that one_" came the Seer's mental command; the Ranger acquiesced to her order and held his fire. As the swarm closed in, the Seer suddenly sent out a series of telepathic commands to her kin within the webway, all at once multiple squadrons of Warp Spiders gracefully emerged from the webway gates, each warrior would disappear as swiftly as they appeared, each one teleporting a distance in front or to the flanks of the swarm, and each one unleashing a deadly cloud from their Death Spinners.

* * *

The light chitin armor of the Gaunts and Rippers proved useless against the monofilament clouds, countless of the lesser Tyranids were sliced into small pieces as if they were thrown into a grinder, yet of course there would be more to take their place and as one the swarm returned fire upon the Warp Spiders. The heavy armor and reinforced wraith bone plates of the Warp Spiders endured against the salvo of flesh borers, yet the Seer knew that against such armor would not resist for long and with another mental command, the Warp Spider squadrons teleported away before any serious injuries or casualties among the Aspect Warriors could be incurred.

The Warp Spiders quickly materialized around the nearest webway gates which were laid with runes of healing, thus restoring the Aspect Warriors to full vigor, the Seer extended her sight west to another region and was pleased to see that the Exarch Commander of the Warp Spiders had led his squadrons well with no casualties amongst them. Turning her attention back to the squadrons of tanks, she felt a sense of foreboding as the tanks blazed away at the swarm and yet she noticed quickly at the lack of the larger and more dreadful creatures such as the Carnifexes or Tyrant Guard and even the lack of basic synapse creatures such as the Warriors.

The Seer relayed her orders to the armor companies to continue their barrage and to update her on any changes to the swarm, her sight then went back to the watch tower and she quickly focused her will into the Range with the Long Rifle, she guided his hands to the target she had him focus on earlier. As the ranger settled his aim she gave the command to fire, in a single moment a lance of blue energy struck out from the tower and pierced the oversized head of the Zoanthrope, killing the creature before it could create its shield and sending a psychic backlash that disoriented the smaller Tyranids as well as some of the larger ones. In that same moment, her council unleashed the psychic might they had built up into a storm of warp lightning, an Eldritch Storm to be precise. Bolts of lightning began falling from the sky and each causing explosions of electrical energy that incinerated countless Tyranids, among them were the larger ones which were still disoriented by the death of the Zoanthrope.

Her gaze did not linger long as she quickly turned her attention to another band of outcasts who had taken position upon a plateau east of the outpost, ordering the Warp Spiders back into the webway, she began sending new orders to her forces elsewhere

* * *

No longer feeling the Seer's gaze again and no longer feeling her guidance, Ellarian's focus diminished back to his normal un-augmented state. The Tyranid swarm which had been moving to his position had only partly been decimated, and still there were many hundreds of the creatures heading to the outpost. Setting his sights upon one of the surviving Warrior beasts, Ellarian changed his mind as he noted it lacked any ranged weaponry and switched to another, this one carrying one of the strange organic weaponry common amongst the Tyranids.

Firing his rifle, Ellarian watched as the blue laser lanced directly into the second Warrior's neck, the beast fell with blood gushing out of the wound and disappearing into the swarm of Gaunts and Rippers. Ellarian did not have time to savor the shot as he quickly went about reloading his rifle, after placing in a new energy cell he set his rifle by the window again and searched for a new target, this time aiming for the previous Warrior.

Suddenly feeling a faint tremor, Ellarian's eyes widened in realization for what was about to happen. Outside of the tower, the ground erupted in a shower of stone and sand as Raveners dug their way out, the serpents were followed by many several Gaunts and Rippers which began surging out from the emergence holes. Quickly grabbing his communicator, Ellarian signaled for assistance from the Seer

"They are targeting us!" he said with more worry than he would have liked. The Tyranids had cut off their route towards the nearest webway gate which was at the center of the outposts, a barrage of fleshborers quickly began striking against the watch tower and the ranger kept their heads down. Illyia and Illyios fired their pistols at the swarm but such weapons would hardly matter against such numbers, reaching into his bandolier, Ellarian grabbed a plasma grenade and primed the explosive before hurling it out, the grenade disappeared amongst the swarm and after a second it exploded in a brilliant flash of white light. Many Tyranids were slain but not enough to make a difference

"Isha's Tears!" hissed Ellarian as he went for another grenade.

"_Your aid has come" _came the quick message of the Seer, before he could reply several yellow and blue armored maidens with red manes emerged from the gate, each wielding a pistol and a power sword, the Howling Banshees had arrived. The Tyranids did not have time to react to this new threat before the first row of warrior maidens let loose piercing howls which caused many of the Tyranids to collapse and claw at the air, the earth or each other. The Banshees were then quickly upon the Tyranids, many of the maidens leapt forward and spun their blades in wide arcs which cleaved through the chitinous bodies with ease, from the gate came squads of Guardians led by Warlocks, each Eldar aiding the Banshees with a barrage of fire.

"_To the webway, go!"_ Not needing any further encouragement, the Rangers quickly descended the metal staircase leading down to the ground floor. The siblings were the first to go, while Ellarian was the last, as they descended they could hear the scratching of chitinous claws against stone and against the metal door of the watch tower, the rangers knew that to go outside now was suicide but to stay was also as deadly.

"There will be many Tyranids outside" said Ellarian "if we open the door the beasts will swarm us"

"Set your rifle to fire a Kinetic Pulse" came the voice of Illyiana

"And I will use a grenade to clear us a path" finished Illyios.

Nodding to his companions, Ellarian began recalibrating his rifle, Illyiana holstered her pistol and used her left hand to work the crude lock of the door, of which she had to jerk the rusted thing a little before it screeched and gave way. Illyios then reached for a grenade and primed the detonator, with a swift series of nervous nods to each other Illyiana opened the door and at that moment Ellarian fired, his rifle let out a bright almost white lance of energy that impacted against a Gaunt and caused the creature as well as many of its kin to be knocked down. Shortly after Illyios hurled his plasma grenade which flew out of the entrance which was then swiftly closed again and exploded in mid air, incinerating many Tyranids.

The Rangers could feel the force of the explosion behind the stone walls of the watch tower but were left unharmed; swiftly opening the door again the Rangers sprinted out as swiftly as their fleeted feet could. The Rangers passed several charred husks of Tyranids but only after three seconds of being outside they ran into the swarm, Illyios cut down a Gaunt with his sword while gunning down another with his pistol, Illyiana swung her sword in a wide arc and cleaved through three more before firing her pistol at another which had been about to leap upon her brother.

Ellarian reversed the grip upon his rifle and use the stock to smash down upon a Ripper which had gashed his leg, his rifle crushed the creature's skull and he moved on, trying to keep up with his companions, he stumbled but quickly regained his footing, he knew full well that to fall down would be death. Hearing a loud wail ahead, his heart leapt as he knew the Banshees were near, swinging his rifle at Hormagaunt which got too close, he struck the foul creature's head to the side but it was not enough to slay it.

The creature recovered and leapt at him, one of its claws slashed his right forearm while the other scraped off of his breastplate, hissing in agony Ellarian tried to strike the creature again but saw a sudden flash from a glowing blade to see that one of his companions he thought to be Illyiana who had slain the creature. Before he could nod his thanks he yelled in surprise as another Hormagaunt leapt towards the other ranger, the Illyiana turned back and tried to go for a defensive stance but shrieked as a fleshborer struck the side of her left shin.

The Hormagaunt landed on Illyiana its claws stabbed into her chest but its blades failed to penetrate the wraithbone armor but it had succeeded in denting it before trying again, it did not get a second chance as Illyios beheaded the Gaunt with his sword. The chittering of the Tyranids was soon drowned out by another wail from a Howling Banshee which sounded as if it were coming to them, many Tyranids fell collapsed and indeed a lithe yellow armored maiden with a blue helmet and a red mane landed upon a Gaunt which had been behind Illyios, the Banshee wielded two swords, the one on her right impaled the creature's head while the other decapitated another.

The Banshee which leapt to their aid was quickly recognized by Ellarian as an Exarch. The Exarch then leapt into action, her blades flashing in a deadly dance as her sisters fell upon the prone forms of the Tyranids in a deadly dance. Helping Illyiana up, Ellarian carried maiden by the shoulder while Illyios covered their escape, the rangers then passed the squadrons of Banshees which began withdrawing in an orderly manner. The rangers made it through the hail of shurikens from the Guardians, each one unafraid of the possibilities of friendly fire as each one trusted the skill of the Iyanden troops. Ellarian then began to feel a comfortingly warm sensation spread across his body and recognized it as the power of the runes embedded upon the webway gate. Gently laying Illyiana upon the ground, Ellarian then turned back to the swarm and began reloading his rifle, loading a new power cell he sought a new target and picked out a Ravener which burst out from the ground and leapt towards a Banshee Exarch.

When Ellarian was about to fire his shot, the Exarch swung her Executioner spear in a back handed arch which bifurcated the Ravenerand cleaved a number of Gaunts. The Banshee Exarch then began swinging the Executioner in a rotating motion, the bladed end cut down many Tyranids while the blunt end crushed the skulls of many of the smaller creatures all while the rest of the Banshees fell back to the webway gate. With the aid of the Guardians and their Warlock leaders who focused their powers on enhancing the skill of the Aspect Warriors, the Banshees withdrew without any losses, and would be followed by the Guardians and the Rangers. The last to leave was a Banshee Exarch, she grinned underneath her helmet hoping the Tyranids would enjoy the surprise the Rangers had left, in one hand she held a small cylindrical device and with a simple press of a rune she leapt into the webway gate before the Distort bomb detonated and creating a vortex that would drag countless Tyranids into the Warp.

Within the paths of the Webway, the Eldar took a moment to catch their breaths and to check upon their comrades, many of the Banshees had been injured but their armor had been reinforced and thus had only sustained injuries which would heal.

"_Return to the main camp"_ came the mental command of the Farseer. The Eldar troops acquiesced to the Seer's orders and began making their way to the gate which would lead them to the main base of the Iyanden war host. Ellarian and his companions did not require any aid moving through the webway for their wounds had been healed by the previous gate, eventually the Eldar would emerge back to the material universe with the sun glaring down at them and the winds screaming.

Ellarian made a quick survey of the camp to see the Iyanden forces had already set up multiple portals while several Bonesingers had been busy singing into shape several gun turrets which would likely be used as a mobile defense. He also caught sight of the Farseer and her council as they communed with the rest of the army, looking to his companions the siblings nodded to him and went off to recuperate, removing a flask from his belt, Ellarian knew the battle was not over yet.

* * *

Farseer Thelanria was relieved the party of rangers and the soldiers that she had sent to rescue them had returned alive, she did not have time to dwell upon it for long as her spirit sight turned back to the rest of the army. Across the battlefield, her troops had been withdrawing from their positions and escaping through the webway and re-emerging at other positions which had been fortified with various defenses, the armoured companies had finally engaged against the larger Tyranid beasts and had been forced to focus fire.

The Ghost Warriors had already engaged the swarm and were already dealing considerable damage, the Wraithcannons annihilated countless small Tyranids and dealt devastating damage to the large beasts, she saw a Wraithguard struck head on by a bolt of warp lightning from a Zoanthrope, the construct fell upon its back, but the soulstone within remained intact and the wraithbone shell began re-knitting itself. The Zoanthrope was struck by a barrage of shuriken fire from the grave platforms which smashed uselessly against its psychic shield, the Zoanthrope then fired another bolt of warp lightning, this time though it exploded upon the psychic shield of Warlock Commander who ten pointed his sword at the creature and the air around it ignited in flames, incinerating many Tyranids.

A support platforms armed with a distort cannon then opened fired at the Zoanthrope, the bolt of warp lightning from the cannon traveled swiftly and opened a vortex into the warp which shredded countless more Tyranids and sucked in the Zoanthrope. Across the swarm several more bolts of warp lightning from distort cannons were fired, creating multiple vortexes which caused immense casualties amongst the swarm.

Trusting the skill of the Warlock, she set her sight upon the Exarch Commander of the Warp Spiders at the western front, she watched as the Warp Spiders unleashed a barrage of monofilaments upon another swarm, cutting the creatures into pieces, she watched as the Exarch materialized above an injured Carnifex and plunged his power blades into its skull, slaying the creature. The Exarch then hurled down an orb which generated a force shield around him that prevent the fire of several Tyranids from striking him, the Exarch then leapt towards the chittering swarm around him and slaughtered several Gaunts before teleporting away. Several mycetic spores were raining down upon the positions of the Warp Spiders, but the Aspect warriors remained on the move, just to be safe though she ordered a squadron of Falcons to peel away from the main battle group to aid Warp Spiders.

Turning her attention to the forces at her camp, the seer began ordering multiple squadrons into the webway to head back into the eastern front. She then cut off her mental link to her council and rose to her feet, the Warlocks then got up as well and nodded to the Farseer, each one began gripping the hafts of their spears and began making their way to the nearest gate. The Farseer put on her ghosthelm and tightly held her singing spear, she knew that the battle would be over soon and she would be there to finish it.

* * *

Emerging once more into the open desert, Ellarian found himself upon a rocky plateau which offered a good view of the area around him, he spotted a hill to the north from which he noted were several squadrons of Guardians and even Rangers who fired at the Tyranid swarm from behind barricades. The Eldar upon the other hill then suddenly stopped firing and began rushing into webway gates, he wondered what happened then suddenly felt tremors beneath his feet which were much stronger than the ones of the Raveners.

Just as the last of the Eldar made it into the Webway, several massive spikes burst from the earth, throwing up stones and sands around while one emerged underneath the webway gate, obliterating it. Ellarian looked behind him to see the Farseer and council emerge from the webway, the seer paid him no heed and turned to one of her council member who nodded something which was unintelligible to Ellarian. Stepping aside and making way for the Seer Council, Ellarian looked to his companions who gave their own nods of assent and the party began searching for a good vantage point.

The battle then progressed on the eastern front this time with the Farseer leading her troops from the front. Unleashing powerful storms of warp lightning; the Seer and her council directed the volleys of fire from the Guardian companies as well as the fire from a pair of Fireprism Tanks which recalibrated their weapons for single powerful targets. With a sudden lance of lavender lightning, the Fireprisms slew a Carnifex which severely damaged one of the tanks with a venom cannon, as the creature collapsed and gave its last breath, multiple Guardians began swarming the damaged vehicle and began making repairs.

Ellarian had found himself atop a large stone which offered him a vantage point, he picked out the form of a Warrior beast wielding a gun and was about to fire, but the lance of energy from another Long Rifle struck the creature through its face. Switching to another target, Ellarian swore when he noticed it was a massive Tyranid with four limbs which ended in massive claws, from bitter experience he recognized this creature as of being the Hive Tyrant.

Aiming for the Tyrant, Ellarian held his breath and fired; his shot lanced straight and true towards the Tyrant but crashed harmlessly into a psychic shield, cursing he began to reload his rifle but then felt a charge in the air. Looking to the Seer, he saw her raise a her left hand to the sky and warp lightning burst forth, soon lightning bolts descended into the swarm, incinerating many again with an Eldritch Storm.

Reloading his rifle, he looked into the scope and watched as bolts of lightning struck against the shield of the Hive Tyrant, he watched and waited for an opportunity, and when it came he fired. The lance of energy struck into the chest of the Hive Tyrant, smashing a hole into its body but the beast still stood, roaring in defiance. The Seer then charged forwards into the swarm with her council and a few Howling Banshees, the Guardians and the Rangers were soon aided by multiple squadrons of Warp Spiders which began to materialize around them, shortly after spiders came several more tanks which added their fire to the volley. The combined fire of the Eldar cut down many Tyranids and allowed the melee troops time to close in, Ellarian watched as the Farseer and her council cut through the swarms of Tyranids and even the larger beasts were unable to stop them due to the concentrated fire from the armor.

He watched as the Hive Tyrant attempted to withdraw and fired another shot at it, this time the laser bolt struck against the armored back of the Tyrant, Ellarian cursed knowing that his shot would have had little effect. In a swift moment the Warp Spider Exarch Commander suddenly materialized in front of the Hive Tyrant alongside several Howling Banshees who wailed and screamed at the Tyranids, the Tyrant raised one of its claws to smash down upon the Exarch who disappeared and materialized above the back of the Tyrant's head. The Exarch then brought his power blades down into the back of the Tyrant's neck and began opening fire at point blank range with his Death Spinners.

The Tyrant thrashed and flailed wildly trying to get the Exarch off before he disappeared again and in its distraction it did not see the Farseer as she thrust her spear into its chest. The blade sunk deep and Tyrant roared once more, but this time it was weak and the creature began to collapse, the Hive Tyrant's power began to weaken and many of the Tyranids began to become confused and many began tearing at each other or trying to flee the Eldar assault.

The Seer and her council unleashed volleys of warp lightning at the swarm and the remaining Eldar soldiers began to pursue the Tyranids, Ellarian himself continued to pick random targets and begin firing until all that remained were either corpses or those that had fled.

When the battle was over, the Rangers returned to the main camp to collect their belongings, gathering his survival kit, Ellarian looked to his companions whose helmeted features could not conceal the satisfaction he could feel emanating from them, with a nod to his companions, the three Rangers made their way into the nearest webway gate with their mission accomplished. The other Ranger squadrons would remain to assist the Iyanden in cleansing the planet of all Tyranid life as well as to see to incineration of those slain in the battle.

With one last look to the material plane, Ellarian was glad to no longer be around the cold and unnerving presences of the Ghost Warriors, he wondered though in grim curiosity if when his time comes, would he as well be placed into the shell of a Wraithguard? He found that it disturbed him to the core and shook such thoughts away, taking a step into the webway he disappeared from the material plane into the twisting paths back to Vaul-anarath


End file.
